Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin created the Tramp and was driven out of the country that made him rich. Born in London in 1889 to music-hall performers, he was destitute by seven — his father drank himself to death, his mother was committed to an asylum, and he spent periods in a workhouse and a school for paupers. He first went on stage at five, taking over when his mother's voice failed. He toured America with Fred Karno's company and was signed by Keystone in 1913. The Tramp appeared in 1914, assembled in a few minutes from a costume rack: bowler, cane, oversized shoes, tight jacket, small moustache. Chaplin said the character came to him fully formed as he dressed. He acquired control of his own work faster than any performer before him, directing, writing, editing and later composing, and in 1919 co-founded United Artists with Pickford, Fairbanks and Griffith so that artists would own their films. The Kid, The Gold Rush, City Lights and Modern Times combine slapstick with sentiment and with argument — the assembly line, the Depression, the treatment of the poor. He resisted sound for over a decade because the Tramp's silence was universal. The Great Dictator in 1940 attacked Hitler by playing him, and ended with a direct speech to camera. He was pursued for years over his politics, his private life and a paternity suit, and in 1952, sailing to London, his re-entry permit was revoked. He settled in Switzerland for twenty years. He returned in 1972 for an honorary Oscar and a twelve-minute ovation, and died in 1977.

• Lived: 1889 CE – 1977 CE
• Nationality: British
• Roles: filmmaker, actor